Theo Walcott attributes his current run of form to a change in his work ethic.

“It’s all down to hard work,” Walcott said before Arsenal’s Champions League match at home against Basel. “Me and the manager sat down and I’ve just looked at myself. I know what I can do. I want this team to do well and you can see that in my desire and the way I’m playing. I want it more than anyone else but that’s just me and the way that I work now. It’s a shame, maybe it should have hit me a few years ago but there’s been a change in my whole attitude.”

Walcott admitted that, for now at least, he has given up on becoming a center-forward.

“I can play anywhere across the line but I wanted to go back to what I know best and the manager’s put so much faith in me by playing me on the right-hand side. I need to keep on repaying that faith.”